


Scars

by Lohksparce



Series: Scars and Space Adventures [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games), Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Intimacy, Love, M/M, Naked Cuddling, The first of many fics of Xigbar in the Destiny universe from me, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:34:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23074828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lohksparce/pseuds/Lohksparce
Summary: "Scars are a strange thing."It's not often space/time accidents end in a relationship. Another night with his bond-mate was another night spent happy. They could share it all, even their scars, no matter how ugly or how bad they were.
Relationships: Variks (Destiny)/Xigbar (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Scars and Space Adventures [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909360
Comments: 7
Kudos: 6





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> This is part one of what's gonna be a little two-part series (unless I get some more ideas past what I have right now).
> 
> Part 2's gonna come somewhat soon.

Scars are a strange thing.  
  
A reminder of what once was. A picture of a time when one was most vulnerable. Sometimes they're physical, sometimes they're mental, or other times it's both at once as if one or the other wasn't bad enough.

They're small, and large.

Long and wide, or maybe they're needle-thin and leave raised spots in the flesh. Maybe they even trail up one's body like a thick snake trying to slither through mud. And the colors too... Every weapon or way to cause pain left it's own type of scar. Fairly smooth save for a little texture or perhaps rough with bumps and crevasses of scar tissue wound tight together. Sometimes there were really wild scars, molted and stained different colors like red or brown.  
  
They both had plenty.  
  
It had taken a long time for Variks to trust him enough to bare his scars for him to see. Crisscrossing over velvety flesh and hard exoskeletal plating alike, marring the Eliksni's beautiful form. The worst of them were his prosthetic arms, legs, and his throat and face. Even after they had grown to be friends, lovers, mating often, and bonding in the Eliksni way that meant they were together until the end of time, Variks still struggled with showing them. He could tell.  
  
Xigbar understood why.  
  
Sometimes scars were too painful to show.

Reminders of mistakes and vulnerability, and suffering.

He had scars like that too. He kept his ruined eye covered, more for himself than anything or anyone else, even the threat of something getting stuck in the socket. It was ugly and hideous, full of rippled skin flecked with black that only hinted at the Darkness that maimed him. The actual eyeball was little more than melted nonsense. Second worse were the scar that tore up his face and the rough, slightly sunken in scar that went from the front of his chest and out his back.

Variks was the only one he felt comfortable showing them too.

The only one he felt comfortable being vulnerable with. He knew he was strong, one of the strongest in the Organization. It wasn't an exaggeration or himself being overly confident. But strength wasn't immunity. His strength was bred from suffering and stupid teenage mistakes.  
  
They talked about it sometimes, how staring in the mirror or anything reflective was something to be avoided unless absolutely necessary, even more so for Variks.

_'I always feel the metal, digging in. I have pain in many parts, both real and phantom. Never goes away, but sometimes... I am able to forget. Not think of it. Cannot not think of pain in front of a mirror, hm? Staring back at you.'_

A truer statement had never been spoken.

Xigbar wished he could've met that Skolas.

Shot his knees out so he couldn't run. Then his arms next, all four of them, and left him humiliated and bleeding out. Then he'd bring his arms back to Variks as a trophy, tell him how Skolas was docked forever more. Dead and gone, never able to hurt him again.

Maybe he couldn't do that for Variks, but he could bring him comfort at least. Let him feel safe and relaxed in his arms, able to show his worst scars without judgment. Let him be vulnerable in a different way. Variks deserved it, as much as he had and continued to go through.

"You are awake..."  
  
Xigbar blinked and looked down at the groggy chitter. Variks shifted and rolled over onto his back with a grunt, blue eyes glowing bright in the darkness of the Eliksni's private quarters.

"Yeah. Everything's fine though, you can go back to sleep," Xigbar murmured, and he leaned in to plant a light kiss on his bond-mate's scarred mandibles.

"The only things that cause nightly wake-ups are worries, excitements, or nightmares." Variks' vocal synth was low and rumbling, and he could feel the vibrations from it against his lips. "Which of these three bothers you, bond-mate?"  
  
Xigbar chuckled. "None of them. I was just thinking, that's all."

Variks' eyes narrowed ever so slightly, staring into that lone golden eye that shone like a little sun. He raised one secondary, trailing his fingers down the darkened, smooth skin of Xigbar's scarred cheek.

"Are you hiding secrets, hm?" Variks teased, letting out that burbling, metallic and distorted sounding laughter he loved. He leaned in close and Xigbar could smell the faintest hint of cool Ether on him. A playful growl filled the air. "You know Variks always finds out se-crets."

He laughed a little, kissing the palm of the Eliksni's hand. "Maybe just one."

"And what secret is this? Is it a learned secret or... a scar-secret?

"Just a little something I meant to give you earlier," Xigbar answered, pulling away and reluctantly leaving the warmth of their nest so he could get to his feet. Cold air hit his nude body and he shivered. "But of course, we got a little... distracted."

Even in the darkness, Variks could hear the sly, teasing smirk in his bond-mate's voice.

His curiosity was perked though. Many Guardians brought him gifts and trinkets, even trophies. Xigbar had too, and those were the most precious of his growing collection. Pieces of far off lands separated by time and space. 'Sea-shells' one could hear faint water movement from, and beautiful earthen wares with images of beasts and people, patterns and designs.

He wondered what his bond-mate's worlds were like.

Some of the tales evoked memories of the Eliksni home world, and conjured images that seemed fantastic and strange.

Variks watched, intrigued, and Xigbar knelt down so he could grab his discarded cloak off the metal floor and grab something from the pocket of it. It sounded soft. Light. There was handful of new scents, most of them faint. Old.

Xigbar crawled back into their nest, and Variks pulled the blanket back over him with his metal primaries. His secondaries lightly touched the nobody's hips, ghosting over familiar scars and pulling him close.

"What secret have you brought me, bond-mate?" Variks asked quietly.

"Here, lift up a little."

Variks obliged.

Xigbar gently wrapped his old, tattered red scarf around Variks' neck, tying it securely but not too tight. He had kept it pristine and clean, and barely a thread had unraveled since he last wore it as a teenager. He smiled bitterly for a brief moment.

Variks let out a questioning click, and one of his secondaries lightly touched the soft cloth that lay against his scarred and metal-ridden throat and neck.

"A throat-covering?"

Xigbar smiled a bit. "Yeah, pretty much. It's my scarf, I used to wear it all the time when I was younger. I know red isn't your House's color, but I thought you'd like it. Even if I'm not here, it'll protect your scar-secrets until I come back and you share them with me again. Even if somehow I can't come back, I'll still be here for you, bond-mate."  
  
Variks was quiet for several moments. Bright blue orbs stared up into their singular gold counterpart. He breathed in the familiar scent of his bond-mate from the scarf, and several others, distant and time-lost.

Most of his quiet was thinking, analyzing.

It was not often he was genuinely speechless.

His scars were one of his deepest, darkest secrets. Few knew of what scars his battered body held over his many centuries of life, from the survival of the Whirlwind and his people's scattering to the cruel slavery at the hands of Skolas. Maybe they had an inkling of what happened, but they didn't _know._

They didn't _see_ the scars. They weren't beholden to his scar-secrets. Not like Xigbar.

Even now they filled him with shame. Pain. Humiliation. Anger. Dark memories. He had made the metal plates and coverings that kept his scar-secrets a _secret_. Being able to share his scar-secrets with one who held as many as he was... precious. A dream he hadn't realized he had dreamt for.

Now there was a reminder.

Physical and tangible at all times, gently cradling his scars like his bond-mate did.

And it was a piece of his history. Oh, Xigbar knew him well. Very, very well.

 _'Perhaps too well?'_ The musing crossed his mind only briefly. Scar-secrets talking.

"Red is indeed not a Judgment color, but... I like this very much." Variks burbled, and a metallic, rattling purr bubbled up from deep within his chest.

A little weight had left Xigbar's shoulders.

"I'm really glad to hear that." He grinned, chuckling a little.

Variks leaned closer to Xigbar, lightly rasping his scarred mandibles and needle-like teeth against his lips before kissing him.  
  
"Thank you, bond-mate," Variks murmured against the nobody's flesh. "I will treasure it. Always."

Xigbar spoke his words against the Eliksni's mandibles, letting their foreheads touch. "You're welcome."

He scooted close to Variks, and the Eliksni's four arms enveloped him again. His own scarred arms came to rest upon Variks' unclothed body, gently rubbing the plate-less flesh of his shoulders with one hand, ghosting over rough scars that marred the soft, leathery texture.

The other found one of Variks' flesh and blood hands, and intertwined their fingers as best he could. The gentle vibrations from his purring were pure bliss.  
  
_"I love you, Variks."  
  
_Xigbar's voice was quiet, swelling with unspoken affection. Variks gently threaded one mechanical hand through his bond-mate's gray and black hair.  
  
There wasn't a hit of slyness or secretiveness in Variks' vocal synth. _"I love you too, Xigbar."_

Cool, comfortable silence fell over them. Xigbar yawned, and Variks held back a tiny, amused chitter at the strange noise. The nobody settled against him. He shut his eyes, and let himself relax. One of his mechanical arm gave a spasm, a phantom pain in his shoulder where flesh met artificial, but a warm hand gently rubbed the ridged scar tissue. _Keep quiet. No time for scar-secrets, only bond-mate affection._

He could feel the nobody's warm body rise and fall against him with each breath.

The tender sensation of exoskeleton against flesh.

Scars against scars.


End file.
